Brooke (Under the Never Sky #2.5) – Veronica Rossi

Title: Brooke (Under the Never Sky #2.5) by Veronica Rossi
Publishing Info: November 26, 2013 by HarperCollins
Genres: Dystopian, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: December 17, 2013
Related Posts: Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky #1), Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2), Roar and Liv (Under the Never Sky #0.5), Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3)

    Set just before the events of Into the Still Blue, the conclusion to Veronica Rossi's Under the Never Sky trilogy, this breathtaking novella is a satisfying stand-alone for new readers as well as an exciting glimpse at favorite characters from the trilogy. Pulsing with romance and danger, Brooke will leave readers desperate for the conclusion to this epic and unforgettable saga.
    The only fight she can't win is the one for Perry's heart. Following the stunning climax in Through the Ever Night, the Tides have been forced to seek shelter from the Aether storms in a dismal, secluded cave. But Brooke's memories of the cave go back much further, to when she and Perry used to come here together. That was before Perry fell in love with Aria and before Vale's dealings with the Dwellers altered the course of the Tides forever.
    Now, with her sister back from a haunting year in captivity and Aria lying unconscious in the sick bay, Brooke struggles to put the pieces of her life back together. Without Perry, who is she? And what is her role in this frightening new world? As these questions swirl about her, an old threat to the Tides resurfaces, and Brooke is forced to put the lives of her people before her own. But in taking this step outside of herself, Brooke may finally discover what she truly wants.

I feel like a lot of people were really disappointed that this novella was from Brooke’s POV simply because Brooke was a sort of antagonist for Aria and Perry’s relationship. Because of her history with Perry, she adopted a somewhat sour disposition and she wasn’t very amiable towards Aria and struggled to be around Perry. I was actually really looking forward to reading Brooke’s POV.

I feel like I’ve been been in Brooke’s position before, albeit in a less intense way. It’s not easy to be in a situation like that — post-break-up AND a new person creeping in on your territory… Thrown in conflict with a sister who’s essentially been kidnapped and a threat to your home and it’s easy to feel exactly like Brooke does. She’s a very strong person but she’s had so much thrown at her that it’s hard to keep it all together. I actually really liked reading from her perspective because we got to see a different side of her and hear things from inside her stream of consciousness. Brooke is a hard creature to tame so she’s less likely to filter her thoughts and her actions. It was interesting to see compared to Aria and Perry who make very calculated decisions.

Reading Brooke’s story also showed her growth throughout the series as well. It’s hard to see how developed her character really is when we only get Aria and Perry’s story in UNDER THE NEVER SKY and THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT and Veronica Rossi is an expert at character development. She’s definitely come a long way since we first met her and even though this is only a novella, she really shows the most progress in this book. We also get some, erm… swoony action here! Since Brooke doesn’t get any more involvement with Perry, we actually get a taste of two new boys in this story and I really loved learning more about both of them!

BROOKE is a novella that takes place between THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT and INTO THE STILL BLUE, but having already read INTO THE STILL BLUE, I’m actually glad I read BROOKE after. You can absolutely read BROOKE before the last book in the series (it does come sequentially before!) but I really liked reading the last book, seeing how everything plays out through the end, and going back to just before INTO THE STILL BLUE starts. Just my personal preference (like I think there are going to be spoilers or something haha. There aren’t, but I’m just weird like that) but I really liked reading the novella after!

Brooke // Character Obsessions: Protecting Clara, finding the Still Blue, getting over Perry.
Brooke really grew a lot in this novella alone which was so impressive to do over the span of a short story. I really admired her bravery, determination, and I respected her journey throughout this story. I really appreciated hearing her point of view and I’m once again impressed by Veronica Rossi’s character development!

Kept Me Hooked On: Veronica Rossi. How does she do this?!? We had an understanding of Brooke before but I got to know so much more about her and I saw so much of a change in this short story. I was so impressed!
Left Me Wanting More: Brooke. I wish we got to see more of Brooke in the meat of this series! She does play a bigger role in INTO THE STILL BLUE but even still… I really started to love and appreciate her character a lot and this being the last part of the series I read, I really wanted to see more of her!

Addiction Rating
Read it!

I hope that people who aren’t Brooke fans will appreciated this short story from her perspective! I think she really showed a lot of maturity — or at least on her way to growing — in this story and I think it’s a great addition to this series.

(Click the cover to see my review!)